The Secret of Standing Against the Crowd

A team of doctors decided to conduct and experiment
to study the ways in which group pressure influences
young people. To accomplish this, they invited ten
teenagers into a room and told them they were going
to evaluate their "perception" in order to learn
how well each student could "see" the front of the
room from where he or she sat.

Actually, all the teenagers were very close to the
front of the room and everybody could see quite
easily. What the doctors were actually studying
was not the students' eyesight, but the effects of
group pressure.

The doctors said, "We're going to hold up some cards
at the front of the room. On each card are three
lines - Line A, Line B, and Line C - each of a
different length. In some cases Line A will be the
longest; in other cases Line B will be the longest,
and in still other cases Line C will be the longest.
Several dozen cards will be shown with the lines
in a different order. We'll hold them up and point
to line A, Line B, and Line C on each card. When
we point to the longest line, please raise your hand
to show that you know it is longer than the others."
They repeated the directions to be sure everybody
understood, and then raised the first card and
pointed to the top line.

THE OBJECT OF THE GAME

What one student didn't know was that the other nine
had been secretly informed earlier to vote for the
second longest line. In other words, they were
told to vote wrongly.

The doctors held up the first card and pointed to
Line A, which was clearly shorter than Line B. At
this point, all nine students cooperated in the
scheme and raised their hands. The fellow being
studied looked around in disbelief. It was obvious
that Line B was the longest line, but everybody
seemed to think Line A was longer. He later
admitted that he thought, "I must not have been
listening during the directions. Somehow I
missed the point, and I'd better do what everybody
else is doing or they'll laugh at me." So he
clarefully raised his hand with the rest of the
group.

Then the researchers explained the directions again:
"Vote for the longest line; raise your hand when we
point to the longest line."

It couldn't have been more simple! Then they held
up the second card, and again, nine people voted
for the wrong line. The confused fellow became
more tense over his predicament, but eventually
raised his hand with the group once again. Over
and over he voted with the group, even though he
knew they were wrong.

This one young man was not unusual. In fact, more
than 75 percent of the young people tested behaved
that same way. The sat there time after time, saying
a short line was longer than a long line! They
simply didn't have the courage to say, "This group
is wrong. I can't explain why, but you guys are all
confused." A small percentage - only 25 out of 100 -
had the courage to take their stand against the
group, even when the majority was obviously wrong.
This is what "peerP pressure does to an insecure
person.

THE POWER OF A FRIEND

Another very interesting characteristic was revealed
by this study. If just one other student recognized
(voted for) the right line, then the chances were
greatly improved that the fellow who was being
studied would also do what he thought was right.
This means that if you have even one friend who will
stand with you against the group, you probably will
have more courage too. When you're all by yourself,
it's pretty difficult to take your stand alone.

"I tell the story about the little boy who brought
his New Testament to school. The other kids made fun
of him saying, 'Religion is for sissies.' The little
boy looked at the biggest of his accusers, and handing
him the Bible, said, 'Here, see if you have the
courage to carry this around school for just one
hour!'" - Bill Sanders